HPV vaccine to be offered to UK boys as well as girls from September

Boys in the UK are to be given the HPV vaccine from September in a bid to prevent cervical and other cancers.

Currently, only girls receive the vaccine, which also protects against penile, anal and genital cancers, as well as some cancers of the head and neck. But from the beginning of the next school year, boys aged 12 and 13 will be given the vaccine with parental consent.

The vaccine gives protection against the human papilloma virus, which causes 99 per cent of cervical cancers.